Five DeKalb school principals implicated in a 2009 cheating investigation are no longer working in the district, school officials said Friday.
Spokesman Walter Woods said four of the principals retired or were fired, and one is on administrative leave. They were part of a group of 24 educators removed from the classroom in January and reassigned for about 90 days to administrative jobs. The district has never named these educators, but as of April, most were working in their original jobs, with the exception of three principals who were downgraded to assistant principal positions.
Thursday, the Professional Standards Commission, which licenses Georgia educators, voted to revoke the certificate of one DeKalb educator accused of testing improprieties and imposed two-year suspensions on two others. Woods said the district is still trying to determine the next step it will take with these educators. The educators can appeal the sanction, and their certificate is still valid during that time.
The district said it is also instructing employees to cooperate with the DeKalb district attorney's investigation into test irregularities at multiple schools.
Unlike Atlanta, DeKalb earned praise for its handling of cheating concerns. The district launched an internal investigation last year after the Governor's Office of Student Achievement found a high number of erasures on the April 2009 CRCTs. The findings suggested employees used key cards to enter locked school closets on weekends and late at night to access students' answers to standardized tests.
The list of affected schools included Cedar Grove, Stoneview, Medlock, Woodbridge, Glen Haven, Rainbow, Shadow Rock, Avondale and Oak View elementary schools. It also included three middle schools: Cedar Grove, Tucker and Salem.
The PSC cleared 11 educators and the district is waiting on rulings for the others.
David Schutten, president of the Organization of DeKalb Educators, said teachers are cooperating with investigators and answering questions truthfully. He doesn’t believe the same widespread cheating will be found in DeKalb as in Atlanta.
“There was never that push from the top in DeKalb like there was in Atlanta,” he said. “Nobody got bonuses. When bonuses are involved, that’s when people are encouraged to cut corners.”
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